Tango

Argentine tango

Music, dance and poetry born on the banks of the River Plate in the late 19th century. In 2009 UNESCO inscribed tango on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, at the joint request of Argentina and Uruguay.

Origins

Tango arose in the outskirts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where European immigrants, criollos and Afro-descendants lived side by side. Its music blends the habanera, the milonga and candombe. At first it was mostly a dance and instrumental music, played by small groups of guitar, flute and violin, and later by the bandoneon, which became its signature instrument.

From the outskirts to the world

Around 1910 tango conquered the ballrooms of Paris and returned to Buenos Aires with new prestige. Orchestras grew larger and the genre moved into cabarets, theaters and radio.

Gardel and the sung tango

With Mi noche triste (1917), Gardel gave tango a voice and a story. Lyrics began to tell tales of the neighborhood, lost love and nostalgia, often in lunfardo, the slang of Buenos Aires. That model, the tango-canción, shaped every singer who came after him.

The golden age and beyond

In the 1940s and 1950s came the great orchestras of Aníbal Troilo, Osvaldo Pugliese and Juan D'Arienzo, and the milongas (tango dance halls) were packed. Later Astor Piazzolla revolutionized the genre with nuevo tango, and today traditional, electronic and stage tango all thrive side by side.

Dancing tango today

Tango is danced as a couple, in a close embrace, improvising to the music. Buenos Aires offers tango lessons for every level and milongas almost every night. Find ideas in our Buenos Aires section.